Adams State University and

NASA's Colorado Space Grant Consortium Presents:

The Robotics Challenge

The 2018 Robotics Challenge will be held on Saturday April 14th, 2018 at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.A huge thanks to the National Park Service for the great forum to test and challenge our Robots.

Who can participate? The event on April 14th, 2018 is open to the public. Enter a robot or come watch! Previous years saw teams from many of Colorado's colleges and universities challenged to courses to simulate the challenges that the Mars rovers experience every day. High school teams and folks with general interests in robotics can also get involved.

Sign up here to get registered now to receive information about the Robotics Challenge. You don't have to register a full team now. Mentors or team Advisors can register now and then update your team information when the team forms in the coming months.

Workshops prior to the event are offered to active Colorado Space Grant Consortium Students and details can be found at the Workshop links below. Space Grant doesn't provide any funding for hardware or travel to the event or workshops. However if you are a student involved in the Colorado Space Grant program at your college or university in Colorado, please talk to your Affiliate Director for possible funding opportunities.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve - The event is near the main Dunes parking lot, just past the main Visitors Center we will start at 8am and conclude about 11:30am.

Why a Robotics Challenge?

Adams State University in Alamosa and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium are excited to announce the sixth annual robotic event near Alamosa. We intend to simulate an autonomous robot mission on Mars. This event is open to all colleges/universities in Colorado and the general public.

This Challenge is designed to further robot development and challenge teams to learn about electronics, programming and operating in a difficult environment. Our site, at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, is an excellent location for a simulated Mars mission. The terrain near the Sand Dunes creates an environment similar to what can be found on Mars. Participants should design their robots to function is a range of temperatures and natural terrain. There will be wind, ground vegetation, and other not-found-in-the-lab challenges which can render many sensors and movement systems non-functional. Sand has a way of rendering moving parts inoperative. The challenge the terrain presents are not trivial; it is the perfect outdoors laboratory where different ideas can be tested and evaluated.

The History of Robots at the Great Sand Dunes

Thirty years ago the two Viking Landers touched down on Mars. Their cameras were returning to Earth images that have inspired a generation of young people. These cameras were developed in Colorado and tested at the Great Sand Dunes Monument near Alamosa:“With the Red Rock tests completed sooner than we had anticipated, the Martin Marietta engineer in charge suggested that maybe we could venture farther afield. I was dumbfounded. Although this was precisely what we had been requesting, we had always been rebuffed with a stern lecture regarding the precious character of the cameras, and the impossibility of operating them without racks of nonportable support equipment. More than once we had peevishly asked how it could be that we were building a camera that could sustain the shock of a landing on Mars, but could not survive a short excursion on Earth.“The offer was quickly accepted. We loaded all the camera equipment and support gear in a rental truck-unaccountably, Martin Marietta seemed to have no vehicles available other than rockets-and started off for Great Sand Dunes National Monument.“To this day I have not figured out how we managed to drive blithely away with thousands of dollars worth of irreplaceable equipment. In a project where even the most trivial events were anticipated by extensive paperwork, the rules seemed to have been suspended temporarily. Several engineers accompanied the camera in the truck. The remainder of the group traveled in private cars, all of us arranging to meet the following day at Great Sand Dunes.” (From http://history.nasa.gov/SP-425/ch8.htm. Visit this site for some interesting images of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.)The association of Mars with the Great Sand Dunes continues. As recently as fall 2006, scientists were studying the movement of the dunes in an attempt to understand atmospheric conditions of that distant planet. We wish to build on the “Mars Tradition”, believing that the results of our efforts will not only improve our understanding of autonomous robots but will encourage others to study key science and technology disciplines needed by our country. We want our event to encourage not only the students in Colorado but those across the nation.The Colorado Robot Challenge will be staged on terrain similar to the first images returned by the Viking Landers. It will not be “friendly” terrain. The “level course”, one of several courses for this event, will be slewed with rocks and sand of different degrees of consolation. The robots will need to pick a path though this maze. It may well be that no robot will successful complete the courses.Hence, the Robot Challenge is a learning experience. There will not be a first place. There are no awards other than the satisfaction of tackling a difficult, unsolved problem. Our goal is for the various teams to develop a robot which is capable of moving over difficult terrain. We will share what we learn – both successes and failures. Our open cooperation is essential to the development of better robots. Our designs may never make it into space. Yet, on Earth there are numerous situations where our designs will succeed. Robots are needed to clear mine fields in developing countries. Robots are needed to search for survivors in buildings devastated by natural disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes. Robots can assist in mine rescues. Autonomous robots are needed in situations where the environment is too dangerous for people. Our Mars simulation may lead to new ideas that can address that need. The Colorado Robot Challenge will be an event where students can learn and gain valuable experience in merging sciences and technologies. And it will be fun!